This Is War
by ninaxwings
Summary: A miniseries about what happened after Until the Day I Die, my Daniel fic. Kind of like an extended epilogue. Alex and Sayid face off as the clock ticks down to the end. Suliet, Charladay, Malex
1. Good and Evil

**Author's Note : Since I got so much great feedback I'm going to share my ideas of what happened next with all of you. This picks up right where Until the Day I Die left off. I don't know how many chapters there will be yet. I'm going to try and answer all of your questions, let me know if I missed anything. Sawyer didn't let Juliet come to the Swan because after they escaped the sub they ran into Rose and Bernard on the beach. Rose told Juliet to run and hide because death had marked her. So yay, Juliet survives the Incident. In the beginning of the story, when Sawyer and Miles save Alex from Keamy Ben is not killed. (Just for the record) Sawyer and Miles drag him out of the house and trade him for Alex. Ben had time to explain to John how to summon the black smoke and all of them make a clean escape. I hope this clears up any **_**Lost**_** confusion.**

_The island was falling apart and everyone knew it. The ground shook mercilessly and cliffs crumbled into the ocean__**.**__Some of them were trying to fly a plane off the island. A few were headed to the heart of the island to stop what they had set in motion, if it was even possible to stop it. _

Richard was at the Temple when Alex and her group arrived. It was a few hours after he had been in 1977. One moment he was at the Swan dodging flying toolboxes then the next he was in the jungle headed for the Temple. Alex's friend, Jin took off immediately for the beach a few minutes after they arrived. Richard had told him his wife Sun was there so Jin wasted no time getting back to her. Angel was with their group so Kate had obviously been able to bring him through time with them. Sawyer and Juliet were together and they were still very much in love. Richard had thought that perhaps Charlotte was among his present-day people but she wasn't. Daniel had Rome with him and it appeared that the three-year-old was healthy and happy as ever. His people crowded around Rome, excited to meet him. Everyone wanted to touch him and see the little messiah for themselves. Jacob had sent them a list with the message Rome was the most important Candidate that would ever come to the island. Daniel shooed them away after a while and he was given a room in the Temple so he could put Rome down for a nap. Miles was still very angry with Richard and Alex so he stayed behind with Hurley to bury Eric and Jack. They had pulled Jack from the hole after the jump but he died from the radiation. At least they were back where they came from now. Without their sacrifice all of them would have died in 1977. The time-travel wasn't the only miracle to occur today, Alex's group had brought a mostly-dead Sayid to the Temple with instructions from Jacob to put him in the pool. Richard remembered the vision he'd had where the Temple had been massacred and he found Alex dead, killed by Sayid. He begged her to let him die but Alex refused.

"Jacob wanted it done." Alex replied. So he was carried into the pool room and they held him underwater. Alex was the Temple guardian now so she cut her hand with a knife and let her blood flow into the muddy water. Richard turned the hourglass upside down and watched anxiously. The water should have cleared when Alex's blood touched it but it remained dark. It was like a metaphor for the darkness that would consume Sayid's soul after he was resurrected.

"He's going to kill you, Alex. " said Richard. Alex looked at the cut on her hand. She knew the water should have closed it but it continued to bleed.

"I know." She replied. Sayid stopped struggling as the sand ran out in the hourglass and they brought him out of the pool. They were so sure he was dead, so imagine how surprised they all were when he just sat up and started talking a few hours later. Miles and Hurley were back by then and Miles had been 100% sure Sayid was dead. When he got up and started talking, Miles could sense this black chill in the air. He had been touched by something otherworldly just like Alex but this was wrong. Whatever had a hold on Alex is good. It was like a god had touched her. The force that had Sayid was the opposite of what was backing Alex, Miles could deduce that much. He pulled her aside after Sayid came back from the dead and they fought over her deal with Jacob. She had traded her life for Daniel's and Miles was furious.

"I can't stay here," said Miles "Dan is going into the jungle to look for Charlotte and I'm going with him."

"Who will care for Rome?" asked Alex.

"You will. All of you will. Goodbye, Alex." He reached out to touch her cheek and she threw her arms around him.

"I love you, Miles. Please come back for me." She said. Miles just nodded and hugged her back. This was it they were finally breaking up. Miles called to Dan that he was ready to go and Alex had the Temple doors opened for them. Miles would later wish he had never left.

Dogan, the man that had been in charge of the Temple before Alex's arrival had taken Sayid to his chamber under the Temple, where he had a Bonsai garden. He had said he needed to "test" him. Richard wondered what that meant as he wandered the halls of the Temple. The sun had gone down and almost everyone was asleep. The air was cool inside the Temple and the halls were dimly lit He could hear Rome crying softly from somewhere within the Temple and Juliet trying to comfort him. Richard wondered what Jacob wanted with the child.

"Richard, is that you?" Alex's voice came from inside a room. Richard knew what was going to happen next, he'd already had a vision of this. There are no surprises when you're omniscient.

"I'm here, Alex." He said as he walked into her room. She was lying on a mat on the floor wrapped up in a blanket.

"Come here." She said. Richard settled down on the floor by her and took her in his arms. They spoke briefly about things to come and Alex told him Miles had left her. Then they kissed and he pushed her back onto the mat. He had been waiting lifetimes for this. She undid the buttons on his shirt and kissed his neck. Then, they busied themselves with each other and for a moment Alex forgot she was going to die. This was the night her daughter with Richard was conceived.

The next day Jacob appeared to Hurley. He told him to get Juliet, Sawyer, Kate, Angel and Rome. Then, he took Hurley to a secret tunnel underneath the Temple. He told Hurley about the lighthouse on the coast and told him to set it to a series of different numbers. When they got there they found names next to numbers carved into the rim around the mechanism in the middle. Most of them were crossed out except for a few.

6. Angel Caldeveres

9. Alexandra Rousseau

11. Juliet Burke

13. Sayid Jarrah (crossed out)

15. Jack Shepard (crossed out)

16. Charlotte Lewis (crossed out)

17. Daniel Faraday (crossed out)

18. Miles Straume

19. James Ford

20. Kate Austen (crossed out)

21. Hugo Reyes

57. Richard Alpert

67. Rome Lewis

Angel thought it was infinitely weird that Richard was on the list now. Angel had always been on it but never Richard, he was a new addition. When the dial was set to number six, Angel recognized the government lab he had been working for back in the 70's before his ship wrecked and he washed up on shore, where Richard found him. He hadn't aged a day in the time-jump. He was still a young man like he had been in the 70's. Number nineteen showed Sawyer his childhood home and he got angry and smashed the mirrors. Hurley stalled them for as long as he could, but eventually they all wanted to go back to the Temple. Jacob had told Hurley not to go back there anytime soon so he claimed he knew a short cut that really only got them lost. Back at the Temple, all hell was quite literally breaking loose.

That morning, after Alex's friends left Claire came waltzing onto the Temple grounds. The smoke monster had sent her in to deliver a message to Alex. "Surrender your power and send your people to me, anyone left on Temple grounds after sunset dies"

Alex had never dealt with a full-blown crisis before. She was just starting to get the hang of all this leader stuff. She had her people put Claire down in the hole that served as a cell. Then she and Dogan hastily formulated a plan. Richard hovered around her and advised her as best he could. Jacob's people insisted the monster couldn't get in and they split in half. The women and children left, only the proud and foolish stayed. Alex and Dogan took Sayid down to Dogan's garden. Alex stood by his side and helped convince Sayid to go into the jungle and kill the monster. Alex knew with a little luck Sayid would be killed instead and the crisis averted. When Dogan performed the "test" on Sayid, he had failed. Sayid's scale had tipped to the side of darkness. Jacob hadn't been able to claim him, though he thought he could. Dogan had already tried to poison Sayid by getting him to take a pill from Alex but he spit it out.

"If there is good in you, then prove it." Said Alex, holding the dagger out to him. Sayid snatched it from her and stormed off.

"He will be back you know." Dogan spoke English to Alex because he'd always been fond of the girl. He knew Alex would go on to do great things.

"And we'll be waiting," said Alex "Come on to the pool."

They left the chamber together and went to wait for Sayid in the pool room. They didn't have to wait for very long. Sayid came back over the line and through the Temple doors. He knew what he had to do. Richard was outside on the steps and he ran forward to speak with Sayid. Before he could speak Sayid knocked him out with the handle of the dagger. He would never get to Alex with Richard around. Sayid killed the men that ran forward to stop him. The rest of them watched him walk right into the Temple. He walked into the pool room with the dagger out of the sheath. Dogan spoke to him first.

"Did you kill him?" asked Dogan.

"You already know the answer to that." Sayid replied. When he was close enough he stabbed Dogan in the stomach. The man crumbled to the ground. Sayid advanced on Alex next. She fought him but Sayid was stronger. He stabbed her in the chest several times and he left her to bleed out. He walked back outside to meet the smoke monster. Dogan played dead this entire time. Then he struggled to his feet and began to drag Alex into the pool. The moment her blood touched the water it cleared. Dogan left her floating face-down in the water and climbed out to turn the hourglass. He held her under the water until the sand ran out, then he dragged her out of the pool. His job was done. He fell to the floor next to her lifeless body and slowly began to bleed out.

Miles and Daniel were out in the jungle searching for Charlotte when Dan got his foot caught in a bear trap. Miles was unable to free him so he ran back to the Temple for help. What he found instead horrified him. The bodies called out to him before he could even see the walls. He knew Alex was dead the moment he crossed the ash line. He found Richard outside in the courtyard crying next to a body that was covered with a blanket.

"What happened," cried Miles "Oh my god, Alex, what happened?"

Her voice was shouting in his head, repeating the story of Sayid murdering her. Miles fell to his knees by Richard and clutched his head until it died to a whisper.

"Who killed her?" Richard asked him.

"She was a guardian, whatever that means," said Miles "She was the only thing keeping the monster out so he had Sayid kill her."

"Why would she do this?" Richard whispered

"I loved her so much. I know you loved her, too man. I know she didn't want to hurt either of us and that's why she did what she did." Said Miles. Miles didn't know that Dogan had performed the ritual after Alex died. Richard and Miles began digging a grave together. The island had a sick sense of irony, the two men that loved her were the ones to find her dead.

_Alex was drowning. Then she wasn't. When she opened her eyes all she saw was Jacob sitting beside her. There was nothing else, just white light._

_ "Am I dead?" she asked._

_ "Not quite," replied Jacob "Do you want to be dead?"_

_ "No." said Alex after a moment. _

_ "Good because it isn't time, yet." Said Jacob._

_ "Will I come back like Sayid?" _

_ "No, your scale tips in the other direction." Jacob answered. _

_Before Alex could ask him anything he leaned over and kissed her cheek._

"_Good luck, Alex." Were the last words he spoke to her._

When Alex opened her eyes two people were carrying her and she was wrapped in a blanket. She screamed and thrashed. Miles and Richard let go of her in shock and she fell into the grave meant for her. She started screaming again until the two men pulled her out.

"What happened?" she began to cry.

"Holy shit." Said Miles, he was unable to say much else. Richard wrapped his arms around her and had to stop himself from crying too.

"You were dead, Alex. Sayid killed you." Said Richard. Miles recovered from his shock and threw his arms around Alex. He was kind of hugging Richard too but he didn't care right now. Alex was back from the dead, that's all that mattered.

By the time Juliet, Sawyer, Angel, Kate, Hurley and Rome made it back to the Temple, Alex, Richard, and Miles had gone. They examined all of the bodies they saw and were relieved their friends weren't among them. But if they weren't here, where in the hell were they? They argued about where they would go next. What was left of the survivors of flight 316 had camped back on the beach and Jin was there so it made the most sense to go to them. Maybe Daniel, Alex and the rest would already be there. They only found five people camped on the beach. The rest were dead or with "Locke" and the Others that left the Temple. Ben, Jin, Sun, Lapidus and a new woman named Illana. Apparently, Jacob sent her. Everyone was happy to be reunited even if all of them were scattered around the island.


	2. Soldiers and Civilians

Daniel and Charlotte were finally reunited, but she wasn't happy to see him at all. She had been living in the jungle with Claire for the last three years. She wasn't herself that was plain to see. The blonde had grown out of her hair and it had been cut short up to her neck. It was red again and matted in places. Her face was streaked with dirt and she carried a rifle with a scope. Claire was about in the same condition as Charlotte if not worse. Charlotte got him out of the bear trap and dragged him back to the camp she shared with Claire. Daniel was held there for days. Claire helped Charlotte torture him. Someone had mislead them to believe the Others had Rome and Aaron. Daniel explained over and over again that Kate took Aaron off the island and Rome was at the Temple with his friends but they didn't believe him. After a few days, John Locke and Sayid came to their camp. Daniel thought he was hallucinating. Locke made the women release Daniel and they moved on to a larger camp where what was left of the Others had moved to. John Locke shared with them that he had a plan to get all of them off the island. He also shared that he had an opponent coming to the island and this opponent wanted to kill them all. Daniel knew better. When he came back to the island Jack and Kate told him Locke died back on the mainland. This creature was not John Locke. This was the man that threatened Rome and took Charlotte from the Dharma barracks in the dead of night. More than anything, Daniel was angry. For now, he was going to play the Locke imposter's game. He'd play until he had a way to get Charlotte and Rome off the island. Maybe if he got Charlotte home and cleaned her up she could be Rome's mom again. Daniel still loved Charlotte and he refused to give up on her. He watched her from a distance and wrote in his journal. She and Claire were taking their guns apart and cleaning them. Locke had sent Sayid over to Hydra Island on some kind of mission. Daniel was glad he wasn't there lest he try to kill him again. He had to get away from these people but he wasn't going anywhere without Charlotte. So he watched her, wrote in his journal, and began to make another plan. He was going to be of use while behind enemy lines.

By the time Miles lead Richard and Alex to the bear trap Dan was caught in Charlotte had already taken him. Alex picked up a trail but it went cold shortly after. They were out of options so Alex decided they would go back to the beach and search the coast for their friends. After a day of walking a trail took them to where their friends were hiding. New and old faces greeted them once they reached their camp. All of their friends that had been at the Temple were there except for Daniel and Sayid. Jin and Sun were finally together again after all these years. Rome ran forward to hug Alex the moment he saw her. There was a new woman and a man that Alex recognized vaguely. He was the man that was piloting the helicopter Alex and Sawyer jumped out of. Their group was so happy to be reunited that Alex didn't notice Ben until he approached her.

"Hello, Alex." Said Ben. She slowly turned around.

"Hi, Daddy." Said Alex. Before Ben could get another word in Alex cocked her arm back and punched Ben square in the nose. The cartilage crunched and blood spilled onto the sand as he crumbled to the ground. If you watched a replay in slow motion, you would see Alex neatly break Ben's nose in one carefully executed rabbit punch.

"Go to the Temple, you said," Alex was yelling "You'll be safer there you said! " Alex began to kick him and he curled into the fetal position in an attempt to protect his head.

"I thought you would be." Ben said from behind his hands. Alex kicked him in the ribs but by now the rest of the camp had joined them. Miles grabbed her and dragged her away from Ben.

"Do you want Rome to see you like this?" Juliet asked her. Jin and Sun had taken Rome down the beach to build a sandcastle after Alex punched Ben. The less violence he saw, the better. Jin, Sun and Rome were the civilians in all of this. This wasn't their fight they were just caught in the middle. Alex was in charge now she was a soldier just like everyone else on the list. She had to make this right or a lot of people were going to die and it would be on her. Sawyer came up to Juliet and kissed her shoulder.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

"What didn't you miss?" the pilot, Lapidus retorted.

"Why don't y'all just explain what's going on to Alex so we can make a plan." Sawyer snapped back. Miles yelled for Kate and Angel to join them so Angel came sauntering over with his arm around Kate. Ben finally gathered himself and filled them in on current events. The smoke monster was prancing around in Locke's body, Jacob was dead, and a submarine had arrived on Hydra Island where the plane also was. This information was courtesy of Ben.

"Who was dumb enough to kill Jacob?" asked Angel. Before anyone could answer Richard spoke.

"It was Ben. I saw it in a vision." Said Richard. A hush settled over the group and Illana stood. She pointed her gun at Ben so he didn't try to run.

"I knew Locke couldn't have killed him," she said through clenched teeth "You're going to dig yourself a grave, then I'll shoot you."

"I second that, kill him already." Said Sawyer.

Ben whimpered and begged for his life but no one cared. Miles was going to get him a shovel when Alex stopped him.

"We can't kill him, yet," she said "We're going to need him to carry the dynamite." A slow, malicious, smile spread over Alex's face.

"What the hell do you want with dynamite?" asked Lapidus.

"Locke wants to leave the island. My job is to stop him. There's a plane and a sub over there," Alex began "We blow one of them as a diversion and get all of our people on the other to escape."

Sawyer didn't know when Alex got so smart but he was proud of her. The old switcheroo, he should've come up with it himself. The only one that didn't agree with the dynamite plan was Hurley but eventually Alex convinced him. Most of the camp stayed on the beach and Richard, Ben, and Illana went to the Black Rock for dynamite. It was safer that way. She didn't care about Ben or Illana and Richard's immortality would withstand the dynamite. In spite of his size, no one saw Hurley slip away after they left.

Daniel was minding his own business just writing in his journal. He looked down for a moment and someone tackled him from behind while he was distracted. Hands closed around his throat and slammed his head into the ground. Charlotte had attacked him.

"Tell me where he bloody is!" screamed Charlotte. Daniel gasped for air and struggled. Why did he leave the island back in 77? If he had stayed this never would have happened.

"Charlotte, he's with our friends," said Daniel "Alex and Juliet and Sawyer, don't you remember our friends?"

"You're lying!" her hands tightened and Daniel began to lose consciousness. Just when he was starting to think he was going to die, Locke grabbed Charlotte and hauled her off of him. She fought Locke with all of her might. Daniel had never seen her hysterical like this. When she didn't calm down Locke struck her in the face.

"This behavior is completely inappropriate, do you understand?" He shook her shoulders to make his point. Daniel shoved him away from Charlotte and squared his shoulders, ready to fight to the death.

"Keep your hands off of her." Daniel sounded calm but Locke could hear the anger in his voice. Locke held up his hands in surrender.

"My mistake." He said. Daniel nodded and turned to Charlotte. He touched her cheek where Locke slapped her.

"Are you all right, Charlotte?" asked Dan. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she began to cry.

"I miss him, Daniel." Said Charlotte. Daniel held her against his chest and rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to soothe her.

"I know they'll come for us, Charlotte. Then you'll see him again I promise." Said Daniel. Charlotte was calm now and she didn't fight him. Dan knew the old Charlotte was in there somewhere it would just take some time to find her. Sayid had come back from Hydra Island and he was having a rushed, secret conversation with Locke. Daniel overheard Desmond's name. Locke gave Sayid a knife and a handful of bullets. Then Sayid left again in the direction from which he had come. Dan couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.

Richard, Hurley, and Ben returned to the beach with no dynamite or Illana. Not much had changed since their departure. The plan was the same: get explosives, find their missing friends, make a diversion, and escape the island. Miles was the first one to speak when they reached the beach camp.

"What the hell happened out there?" he asked incredulously.

Richard and Hurley exchanged looks.

"We got a couple sticks of dynamite and we were leaving when Hurley says he forgot his pack and goes back. I was holding the dynamite and Illana insisted we needed more so I gave it to her and went back for more." Said Richard. He was looking at the ground.

"Before he could get it this moron comes running outside and yells at us to run, so we ran. Before Illana could give Richard the dynamite she just….spontaneously combusted," Ben finished the story for them "Hurley blew up the Black Rock so no more unstable dynamite."

"Son of a bitch!" exclaimed Sawyer. Sun frowned at him and covered Rome's ears. The three-year old is like a sponge he absorbs everything. Without a word Sun hoisted Rome on her hip and walked away from them to look out at the ocean. Soon she and Jin would be home and maybe Rome and Ji-Yeon could play together. While Sun had Rome distracted Alex gathered everyone in a circle and they were sitting around the fire in their camp. Just like the old days with some new companions. Sawyer was holding Juliet in his arms and Angel rested his head in Kate's lap, perfectly content to be sprawled out in the sand. Everyone was still getting used to Angel's presence. Kate brought him with them from the 70's and it was strange having a new time-traveler. Alex was sitting with Richard on one side of her and Miles on the other. They weren't trying to kill each other, which was progress.

"Doesn't her death bother you, Alex?" asked Ben. Alex had been lost in her thoughts.

"Illana?" asked Kate.

"Yes, Illana," said Ben "She was hand-picked by Jacob himself. Trained all her life to be his soldier. Then she just gets blown to hell because Richard put the bag down for a second."

"That don't matter right now," said Sawyer "What about the rest of our people?"

"Our people have been captured or turned to the dark side," said Miles "Dan was caught in a bear trap and someone got him out of it."

"I don't care about Sayid," said Juliet "Charlotte is out there and so is Dan. We have to find them."

"We're all going to the same place," said Alex after a moment "The plan stays the same. Frank, what condition is the plane in?"

"I need to make a few small repairs but she'll fly." Said Lapidus. He ran his hands through his hair in a worried fashion. "Which one are we gonna blow?"

"I don't know yet," said Alex "We need to go talk to him."

"What about the explosives?" asked Angel. He was a chemist before he came to the island so he usually handled anything they needed to blow up.

"I need a small team to head for the barracks and look for more dynamite." Said Alex. Ben cleared his throat like he was asking his daughter for permission to speak. Alex nodded to him.

"I have c4 in my secret room. I can save you some time." Said Ben.

"That's much better than unstable dynamite. I'll go." Said Angel. Kate protested but he silenced her with a kiss. It wasn't easy to tell the blue-eyed dark-skinned scientist no. Richard got up and went to get his pack. He knew Alex would send him to carry the explosives it made the most sense. Richard, Angel, and Ben were to head for the barracks while the rest of them caught up to Locke. Alex circled a spot on Richard's map where they would meet before joining Locke's camp. It was very important they had the c4 before going to meet up with him. If they all headed to Hydra Island together there was a better chance their entire group would escape.


End file.
